2007 Christmas

Here's a peek at our Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Maya decided to try to get a sneak peek at the presents. She dove right in with her mouth. I thought it was funny and reached for the camera but Jayden was appalled!
After, I got Maya to fall asleep, Jayden and I made Christmas cookies. We had so much fun. We made Viennese Vanilla Cookies and they were delicious. I would say they were a blend of a sugar cookie and a butter cookie and they were filled with almonds. I rolled them out and cut them out into Christmas shapes. Then I decorated them and for the next two hours, all Jayden could say was cookie! It was like his entire vocabulary was gone, except for cookie. Here he is winking at me.

It was hard getting him to understand that we had to cook them first. He was very amused by them.

I put the kids in bed with me that night. As you can see, Jayden was knocked out, but Maya was waiting for Santa Claus to come.

On Christmas morning, Jayden rolled over and spotted Maya and the first thing he does is roll over onto her and give her hugs and kisses, which she loves.

For breakfast, I made stuffed french toast. It was yummy delicious and then Maya fell asleep so we had to wait for her to wake up before opening presents. They were very fun to watch. Jayden opened up all of his presents and even though Maya was doing very well on her own, Jayden had to help her too. Then he tried to take ownership over the gifts too. Silly goose!

All I ever saw of him was his back. He was like the Tasmanian Devil and there was wrapping paper everywhere. To him, it was like a job and he took it very seriously. When he was done opening one gift, he was back for more.

Maya loved her toys, especially this little piggy that sings a song and does a jiggle. She immediately expressed her love for it by gnawing on it.

Although you could never tell by the pictures, Jayden spent most of the day crying. He's all about having temper tantrums now and here he is after he recovered from his last fit. He got a helmet and pads for Christmas and he wore the helmet to open gifts, but he did not want the helmet to ride his new scooter.

He refused to ride the scooter and insisted on walking next to it instead so of course, he fell down about a million times. So we switched gears and pulled out his tricycle. After his next fit, he managed to have a little fun with Daddy.

Then we put Maya in the swing while Jayden was on his bike, which caused another fit. Oh well. He' just going to have to get over it. Maya wasn't phased by his screaming at all. She was having fun.To end the screaming, we decided to put the kids into the wagon. Jayden was going for the Oscar, Best Dramatic Actor. It was another fit. But Maya was having a ball. When Jayden thought Mommy and Daddy were leaving without him, he settled down and got into the wagon.

Here they are holding hands and Maya is just all smiles at Mr. Jayden.

Doesn't he look devious here?

Merry Christmas!

Trying To Keep Old Traditions Alive

It was a tradition in my family to make many wonderful and special foods and desserts for Christmas. I always fondly think back on Christmases past and miss all the festivities that I no longer participate in. I do remember opening presents on Christmas Eve, but more than that I remember it being a time of family and friends, of food and music and a time of celebration and church.

Puerto Ricans celebrate Noche Buena, which is on Christmas Eve. A huge component of it was all of the special Christmas dishes. You could expect to find pernil (roast pork shoulder), arroz con gandules, (yellow rice with pigeon peas), pastelles (some people call these tamales), arroz con dulce (coconut rice pudding) and coquito (our version of eggnog). In addition to all the food, there was music, dancing, and lots of friends and family. I also remember the parrandas (our version of caroling) with lots of singing and instrument playing. There was always the guitar, the tambourine, some sort of drum, the guiro and the maracas. In fact, some people were even offended if their home was not visited. There was a break in the party for la Misa de Gallo, or Midnight Mass, but after that the party went on until the early morning hours.

Now as an adult, I am sad that my kids won’t experience all of the culture and traditions that I got to experience and I try to keep some of it alive by doing some of the cooking that I remember. Many of the dishes have a higher level of difficulty and are labor intensive. I can remember helping my mom with tons of preparations and I wish I had paid better attention. This year, I decided to try my hand at one of the dishes I miss the most and that’s Arroz con Dulce.

It wasn’t easy. First I scoured the internet looking for recipes that somewhat resembled my mom’s version. This was not easy since my mom’s recipes are in her head. They aren’t written down and no measurements are exact. Finally I found one and I consulted my mother. Of course, it was all wrong and she began to tell me all about what I would need, how I would put it together and the techniques I would use. And of course, none of the steps were in order. Mostly, I felt overwhelmed. I took a trip to the Spanish grocery store to find the specialty items and then I attempted it.

I will spare you the details, but it took me almost 4 hours and I ended up with something that was pretty darn close to my mom’s rice pudding, expect that it was a little undercooked. Now for a little nostalgia: my mom was a self taught cook and I she worked on this recipe for years before having success. I remember one year, her batch was undercooked. She was so disappointed and distraught over it. After all, she had spent so many hours, worked with so many ingredients and this was truly a labor of love. She would make huge batches of it. It was a dish that she would bring to other’s homes as gifts. I didn’t want her to feel bad, so I told her over and over again that it was ok because I liked it a little crunchy. Looking back now, I don’t think she bought it, but I hope it made her smile. Now, I had to smile because I would be making myself feel better by reminding myself that I liked it a little crunchy.